MRI scanner appeal faces funding shortfall
The local charity that has raised almost €1m to purchase a new MRI scanner for the Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar has relaunched its campaign due to a funding shortfall.
The Friends of Regional Hospital Mullingar reached its original target of €950,000 last year, which – when the fundraising campaign was launched in 2016 – was estimated to be enough to purchase and install the potentially life saving piece of equipment in the new MRI unit currently being constructed on the hospital grounds.
Five years on, however, the cost has risen to €1.2m, and that has forced the committee to extend its fundraising campaign and to issue a renewed call to the people of Westmeath and neighbouring counties.
Speaking at the launch of the new campaign at MRH Mullingar on Friday, the secretary of the Friends of Regional Hospital Mullingar, Mandy Reilly, explained why the costs associated with the project have risen. She also paid tribute to people for their generosity.
“We started in 2016 and we set a target of €950,000, and now with the time lapse, and an upgrade of the specification, we find that we are a bit south of the target.
“People have been so unbelievably generous. It is just incredible. We have to thank the people throughout the region. It’s not just Westmeath and Longford, it’s parts of Roscommon and Meath. It’s quite a large area.”
Paediatrician Michael O’Grady says that when the MRI unit is operational, it will be a major asset to the hospital and will improve patient outcomes.
“It will be a huge advance for patients here. I think that because of competing demands for the MRI service in Tullamore, patients sometimes sit in a hospital bed when all they need is timely access to a scan.
“Even in terms of things like delays on trolleys, having access to an MRI locally will probably have a significant impact on that, certainly we hope it would.
“To give you an idea of what the situation is in relation to paediatrics, if we had a child who needed an MRI scan and we asked for that today, at this stage they are much more likely to get a scan in our new facility, when it’s built, than in Crumlin or Temple Street.”
That will give you an idea of the type of delays that patients face.
“It has been a fantastic effort [from the people of the region]. As I have said before, this is a community hospital – a lot of people have had family members attend this hospital.
“Everybody has their own story about when they needed a scan and that has been a significant driver of the community effort. I think in the modern era to have a hospital of this size that doesn’t have its own MRI scanner is a massive disadvantage and I think we are all looking forward to when this project is finally realised.”
The manager of MRH Mullingar, Kay Slevin, says that when the MRI unit is operational it will be “an absolutely fantastic development for the hospital”.
“We have been waiting for this for some time and I’d like to sincerely thank the Friends of the Hospital and the local community for their contribution. On average, on a monthly basis we would refer out approximately 310 or 320 patients for MRIs, and it is a real inconvenience to transport the patients and it delays patient flow.”
“Without the assistance [of the public, maybe we might not be as near as we are now to having our own MRI facility.”
The hospital says that work on the MRI unit is scheduled to be completed before the end of next year.